204. LECTURE VI. 



was that of the supposed submersion of the Swal- 

 low tribe under water during the winter ; but I 

 forbear to dwell any longer on a topic so often 

 discussed, and shall recommend to those who may 

 wish to pursue the argurhents on all sides, relative 

 to the dormancy of Swallows, to the pages of 

 Pennant, Buffon, Klein, Willughby, and especially 

 to those of the Gentleman's Magazine, where 

 they may find an ample harvest of observations on 

 the subject, 



One curious circumstance should not be omitted 

 in the history of the Swallow, which is, that the 

 same pair have been known to return to the self- 

 same spot in which they bred the year before : 

 this has been observed for at least three years 

 successively, and has been ascertained by mark- 

 ing the birds, before their disposition to migration, 

 by a circle of red or other coloured silk fastened 

 round their legs. 



Allied to the Swallow genus is that of Capri- 

 mulgus or Goatsucker, a genus of birds, differing, 

 as Linnaeus observes, in the same degree from the 

 Swallows that Moths do from Butterflies ; for in 

 reality the Goatsuckers may almost be considered 

 as a kind of nocturnal Swallows. The bill is yerj 



